𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟 𖥻! seonghwa

( 22 ) insecurities

ARMS LINKED IN a chain, the three best friends strut into their first dress shop of the afternoon. it was so exhilarating, looking for the perfect princess dress to dance all night in.

"guess what, ladies?" gaeul asked with a certain pep in her voice. chaerim and yeeun turned from the clothing rack they were browsing, "what?"

"you know nicholas wang, the really hot foreign exchange student?"

chaerim hummed, "no, but continue."

"he asked me to prom!" she announced, and the girls all celebrated.

"i'm so happy for you! he's so cool. you're lab partners, right?" yeeun asked.

"mhm. i'm super excited. i may or may not have a little crush on him..."

"ooh," chaerim poked her arm, "then you gotta get a really cute dress, hm?"

"yup!" gaeul returned to looking through the various sequined and ruffled gowns, then asked casually, "yeeun, did you get asked to prom yet?"

"no," yeeun sighed, "but i'm not surprised. i did it to myself. i was such a man hater that i really don't have any guy friends at school, let alone a guy i like that could take me to prom."

"don't worry, there's still time," chaerim nodded her head with determination, "i have an idea! i can ask seonghwa if any of his friends need a date or ask around the soccer team, and we'll set you up with a date."

the corner of yeeun's lip pursed in deep thought, "you really think there are people that still don't have dates? i mean, prom is pretty close. it would be nice to have one, but trust me, i'm fine going without a date so don't worry!"

"no, i insist. i actually know someone who still needs a date... i got you!" chaerim wrapped an arm around yeeun, making her laugh in happy disbelief. yeeun nodded, "okay. i trust you."

𖥻

towards the end of the day, the girls realized one thing: there are a lot of dress shops in korea. it took all afternoon to scout out the quintessential prom dress for each girl, matching their every detail and desire.

but it was done! the girls headed home with their pretty gowns all wrapped up in protective bags.

yeeun picked a beautiful sage off-the-shoulder dress, simple but classy. gaeul went with a bright pink dress with a sweetheart neckline and a fun floral pattern. chaerim decided on a light blue dress with light ruffles decorating the bodice all the way down.

the day ended happily. chaerim got home and immediately hung the dress up where she could stare at it lovingly until the big day came. of course, she had to text seonghwa and tell him all about it — while keeping what it looked like a surprise, of course.

she opened her phone, and saw a message from seonghwa already waiting for her

seonghwa
where are you
chaerim.

chaerim
hiiii
i was dress shopping for prom
i got the prettiest dress EVER
i'm so happy about it

seonghwa
chaerim
that's great and all but
you skipped practice

chaerim
yeah?
be happy for me!

seonghwa
let's just talk tomorrow in person

the text jarred chaerim. this treatment from him brought her back to a place where seonghwa and chaerim were mortal enemies.

she set her phone aside, taking time to think. she hoped he was just in a bad mood or maybe she was just overthinking it, but she couldn't help but feel off.

𖥻

it felt like the pretty walls of love and security that they had finally built up after so long were inevitably crumbling down. it was disheartening. it made them both feel like maybe that was the way it was supposed to be: two people that were never meant to get along, let alone love each other.

the next day, chaerim's anxiety was choking her, and she could barely breathe as she approached seonghwa. he was standing outside of the school, waiting for her with a blank expression.

"hi," she peeped nervously.

"chaerim," he clutched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "let me get this right: you skipped practice to go prom dress shopping?"

"...yes. i had to! prom is so close and—"

"our next game is so close. we're against the bobcats this weekend. don't you understand how big this game is?"

she bit her lip, "i mean, i do care! i go to every practice, hwa. i didn't think missing one would be a big deal, right?"

he took a deep breath, trying to control his anger, "chaerim—! you're slacking off. missing practice to go shopping, i mean it's ridiculous! you think you can just skip practice because you're already good?"

"no, you're being ridiculous. it was just once!" her temper began to heat up.

"you—!" he groaned and turned away, holding his tongue.

"'you' what?" her eyes were wide.

seonghwa turned away, rolling his eyes.

then, chaerim sighed and looked down, "maybe we won't work out. maybe we're supposed to just stay enemies"

seonghwa's scowl dropped, and he stared straight at him. that breathless feeling creeped back into her chest.

"w-what?"

"i don't know. we're both so worked up," said chaerim, "i'm... scared. i hate fighting with you, but it feels like that's just our thing."

it was impressive how easily seonghwa softened up as he read her. he gently grabbed her arms and told her, "chaerim. i'm sorry for getting angry. i just... want the best for you and the team. i shouldn't have gotten mad."

she still looked down, but leaned forward onto his chest, "i don't want to fight."

"i know. i'm sorry. i don't want to fight either."

after a moment, chaerim said, "i'm sorry i skipped practice. i know it was dumb."

"it's fine. you okay?" he leaned back to scan her over. chaerim nodded.

he continued, "anything i can do to make you feel better? anything you want to talk about?"

"i don't want to be enemies like we used to be. i want us to work. i guess this situation just made me a bit insecure about our relationship. i feel like everyone else thinks it's wrong for us to date because of how we used to be, and i guess i'm starting to believe it."

seonghwa let out a chuckle, "we're not going to be enemies, baby. i won't let that happen, okay? and don't listen to everyone else, you know us and they don't. i love you."

"i love you too, seonghwa."

"alright. come on, let me walk you to class."